I got up to find out what the matter was and quickly learned that one had got up to go to the bathroom but heard someone calling. We stood out side listening and then I heard it.
It was a faint long drawn out hellooooooow. Then it repeated.
It was pitch dark outside and cold. At first we thought it was some other group hunting and we were hearing one of the drivers. That made no sense because it was too dark to be hunting and no one else had been seen on our trip in. We would have noticed any other hunters camp or boats.
It was too cold so I went back in and got a jacket on. When I came back out the rest of the group was up and listening. We kept hearing the long hellos about every five minutes. I was the oldest person in the group and having been a policeman in my past, they looked to me for answers.
The sound was coming from the most distant part of the lake which had to be almost two miles away. There was no wind so the yell was reaching us from a great distance. After listening for about fifteen minutes I decided the someone needed help and probably could see the lights from our camp. I went back inside and got properly dressed. One other fellow said he would go with me and he dressed quickly
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We took one of the boats and once we started the engine it would be impossible to hear the calling so it was important to get a bearing on the sound. We then headed in that direction and after a five minute run we shut off the motor and then sat there in the silence in the middle of the lake. After a short spell we heard the hellooooo and it was getting closer.
It took three or four runs across the lake with the stop to listen, before we got close to the opposite shore. Each time we stopped the sound was louder and we got a better idea of where it was coming from.
With the aid of a spot light we checked the shore line but from a distance, because of all the rocks and reefs that were waiting for us in the dark waters. Eventually our spot light picked out a man standing on the shoreline leaning on a stick which later turned out to be a paddle. We then slowly picked our way around the rocks until we reached the shore. Once the boat nosed up on the shore I could see the man was an Indian, about sixty years of age. He could not speak English very well and I could not speak Ojibwa so to communicate was difficult.
We stood in the boat and he stood on the shore while we tried to understand was he was saying. He kept pointing to the lake and made a motion as if to indicate something or someone was around the corner. He pointed to the paddle and again pointed with it back down the lake to the east, towards the river.
We got him in the boat and once we got away from the rocky shore he pointed down the lake. He did not seem to be injured in anyway but he appeared to have been in the water at some point. As we headed down the lake we proceeded slowly as it was difficult to see in the dark. The sky was starting to get lighter and sunrise should occur shortly.
After about twenty minutes of slowly running along the shore line we suddenly saw some oranges floating in the water. The Indian pointed to the oranges, grabbed one as we passed, then pointed to himself and then pointed further east. By now we were entering the river portion of the lake where there was current. We passed more floating groceries, all strung in a line from the current. At this point it seemed obvious that the Indian’s boat had swamped.
When I saw a couple of life jackets and another paddle I became concerned he had not been alone and told my young companion to be on the lookout for another person or body. While we were now in the current, the shoreline we were passing was not continuous. We were passing many small bays and points so we went by them slow enough to check them with the spotlight. Each time we did so the Indian kept point up the river.
At this point we had been traveling about a half hour and that was when we saw the nose of a boat sticking out of the water. The boat was completely vertical in the water with just a few inches of the bow showing. As it bobbed along in the current the nose would bob up and down and that was what drew our attention.
The Indian nodded his head up and down, pointed to the boat and then further up stream.
The water was now flowing much faster as we were approaching the narrowest section of the river. There was a large rocky reef in the middle of the river and the water flowing on each side was very rough and rapid.
By now the sun was coming up and we could see much better. The Indian was standing up and pointing to the right bank which sloped up steeply from the river. It had only a few trees on it but the open area was surrounded in heavy woods.
Suddenly the Indian got very excided and was yelling and pointing higher up on the shore. We could see the body of a large person lying on his back but not moving. The Indian in the boat wanted to go ashore so we moved the side of the boat to the rocks and we grabbed onto some small brush. The current was so swift we had to keep the motor running at about half throttle to stay in position long enough for the Indian to jump out.
We watched him run up the steep slope to a large thick pine tree on the right. He crawled under the tree and then came out holding an empty packsack. When he had searched it for the second time he dropped it and then ran up the hill cursing the fellow laying on the ground. He kicked him in the leg a couple of time while continuing to shout and yell. The big fellow sat up, looked around and then fell back down in a drunken stupor with an empty rum bottle in his hand.
As this little scenario was taking place he heard a shout from the middle of the river, but further up stream.
There on the small rocky island in the middle of the rushing current stood a young Indian couple. We now had two more people in need of help. They stood there waving their arms and yelling to attract our attention.
We instantly switched our attention from the two on shore to the two standing in a very precarious position.
It took only a few minutes to swing away from the shore and out into the middle of the rapids. The island was more like a rocky reef that would be completely underwater most of the year. Because this was late fall the river had dropped and exposed the jagged reef of sharp rock.
We slowly approached the reef from down stream but had to have the motor at almost full speed to get closer. The danger was the propeler could hit some rocks before the nose of the boat was close enough for them to grab. We managed to get close enough for the man to grab the nose and he then help his wife aboard. When she was safe, he quickly jumped in the boat and then the current just as quickly swept us backwards and down river.
Once everyone was safely on board and sitting down we started asking question. The first thing to be determined was if there were any more of them that needed rescuing. We were happy to learn there had only been four occupants in the boat.
End of part 2 of 3 parts
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